Broadcom Sinks 5.5% as Its $43 Billion Anthropic Backstop Meets an Intel-Led Chip Rout

Key Takeaways

• Broadcom’s new backstop on a $63 billion Anthropic rack financing carries a maximum potential liability of about $43 billion, on top of an earlier $29 billion backstop.
• AI semiconductor revenue rose 221% to $16.7 billion last quarter, and management targets $115 billion of AI revenue in fiscal 2027.
• The stock fell 5.5% Friday in a chip rout and now trades at 18.7x forward earnings, the same multiple as Meta.
• The December 10 report needs $21.7 billion of AI revenue and gross margin holding near 73%.

Broadcom (AVGO) sells the custom chips inside the AI boom. Increasingly, it also stands behind the debt that pays for them.

In a filing this week, Broadcom disclosed a backstop on AI rack leases for Anthropic with a maximum potential liability of about $43 billion. The stock fell 5.5% on Friday to $326. Intel (INTC) set off a chip rout that day with a weak PC outlook, putting itself on course for its worst day ever. Broadcom now sits 34% below its…